(Sort of) Weekly Character Update

     Hi all! Sorry about not writing recently. Many family issues have popped up so I had things more to do than I had planned on. So gaming and writing got to take a back seat while I dealt with things. But I am back for now, but December is a busy month for family things so I don't expect to have a lot of posting this month. I hope that every one is alright with this. Now on to what the Characters have been doing for the past couple of weeks.

Airholen the Explorer
      So I have hunted down and slayed Ordos twice now. Picked up a warforged helm. This spurred me to look into the possibility of going all warforged. Well, I am now gearing towards that plan these days. That means that Airholen will be doing the Ordos and Celestials run every week till I get all of the gear. Once he is fully geared then I will turn to doing the old raids just to say that I have done them all.

Brewmaster Asmodea
       Asmodea is working on this same gearing philosophy. But there are a couple of pieces of gear in LFR. So I am working towards the gear. I also am doing the missions to get the Cloud Serpent flying skill and to complete the missions to progress in Wrathion's questline.

Zombee
        STO's Winter Wonderland event is up. And I suck at it. So I have stopped playing STO while the Winter Event is active.

     Like I said earlier, I haven't had much time for playing. So hopefully I will get more time over the next few days but you never know. Until next time, enjoy!

Fantasy News and Views 7

World of Warcraft:     So little new news has come out about the new expansion. People still debate about the Gear Changes, No Flight till 6.1, and Garrisons a lot. But other news involving WoW in general has also come.
        Ghostcrawler is leaving Blizzard. Ghostcrawler aka Greg Street, is the lead systems developer for WoW. As such, he lead the team that tried to make sure that the software and hardware always placed nice with each other. In WoW, he was also the most vocal Lead on Twitter and the website about what they were doing to WoW. And the community either praised of vilified him for it. Even so, most of the community have offered Greg well wishes. All I can say is that I will be sad to see him go because I liked that he provided information as much as he did. I can only hope that his replacement keeps up with the tradition and don't get scared away by the vitriol of the more enthusiastic people. I have not heard who will be replacing Greg.
       Legendary Films, the maker of the WoW movie, have announced a few names of the cast of the movie. None are A-listers, so the money might just get more spent on getting the visuals right. And the actors and actresses look to be decent ones. One of the actors, it has been discovered, has 5 level 90 characters. So at least we know he will do his best to make the movie good.
       
     So I don't have much else to say right now. So until next time, Enjoy!

Weekly Character Update

     I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I don't what I was thinking when I said I would get out stories and stuff this past week. I am sorry, and things will get better. I did have a wonderful time with my Parents, Brother and his family and my own family. Now on to the Characters.

Airholen the Explorer     Finally got my Signet and Burden. Combined and upgraded the piece. Then I also reforged it from expertise to hit. This is all that I can reasonably do for the gear. So now Airholen with try to do the Shaohao daily quest to get that rep up and collect 100K Timeless coins along the way to get the mount. Still have to kill the Emerald Gander, Ironfur Steelhorn, and Urder the Cauterizer rare elites. Also did another step on the Time Orbs quest line. Two more to go and then that will be done.

Brewmaster Asmodea     Valor Capped this past week. Also got enough Valor to get my first piece BiS gear. Upgraded it too. But I can start doing the SoO raids so am trying to get the rest of my BiS gear. Also got most of the the first set of coins for the Legendary Cloak quest. Four more coins to get and then I just get to farm rep for Wrathion.

Strayleaf of the Nightfall     Made level 87 and did some dungeons as a tank. Also have moved further along the quest lines and went from Jade Forest to Valley of the Four Winds and now into Krasarang Wilds. Working on leveling her because Asmodea had Valor Capped.

Blue Adept, Ghost Whisperer    Made Level 21 and gained a new Shield Ability. Still trying to clear out missions. Been fun trying to get him to level up but it's not as easy or straightforward as WoW or STO. Going to look into ways to level better.

Vice Admiral Zombee     Still working on Reps. Dyson Sphere rep is still working towards rank 3. In fact none of the reps have tiered up yet. I still like this new Rep system way more than the previous model. I want to see them move that to all over this new system.

      That is all I played this past week. Tune in tomorrow for the new Fantasy News. Until then, Enjoy!

Fantasy News and Views 6

World of Warcraft     So this past week Blizzard released further details on thier Item Changes. I want to look over that post and the changes presented.
     So the first thing to remember is that reforging is gone. With that gone, what you get on your gear is what you have to deal with. There is no way to customize anything about the gear to optimize it or finesse it to your needs.
     Hit, Expertise, Dodge and Parry are being removed from the game.Hit and Expertise are being baked into the combat system and Armor Value will take the place of Parry and Dodge. Simplifying combat may have taken a step to far here.
     Gear will be broken into two broad catagories, Armor Pieces and Non-Armor Peices.
     Armor Peices are Head, Shoulders, Chest, Legs, Gloves, Belt, Boots and Bracers. Armor Peices will get Primary Stats, Secondary Stats, Stamina, Armor Value and a chance at getting Warforged, Gem Slot and Tertiary Stat.
     Primary Stats will be either Strength, Intelligence and Agility and changes based on Spec. So Hunters always get Agility but Holy Pally will have Int while a Ret Pally will get Strength. The same peice of gear will work for either spec because as you change your spec so changes the the primary stat on the gear. This is a nice change, keeps every peice relavent, if not optimal, no matter what you do.
   Stamina and Armour Value will be on every peice too. Not unexpected as that is how it is now. So no real change here.
    Secondary Stats will be on every peice of gear too. But the Secondary Stat will be randomized from Haste, Crit, Mastery, Readiness, Amplify, and/or Multistrike. The new ones are still under development so may or may not make the cut. This means that you can get a stat on a peice of gear that will not make it useful or desirable, even though it has your primary stat. In the end, it just means that you will get a suboptimal peice of gear. Loot not only get dropped by RNG but it's usefulness will be detirmined by RNG. This is quite possibly the worst decision they have ever made. All of this RNG and loss of reforging means you can't plan out your gear progression at all. And if you get a new peice of gear, if it's not giving you the right secondary stats, even though it's it's a higher iLevel, it's not an upgrade but a downgrade on your abilities. RNG is determining if you will ever get to be good. I hate this.
    There is now a chance to get additional properties. you have 10% chance per property to have it. There are three property types: Warforged, Gem Slot and Tertiary Stat. So on very rare occasions you could have all three of these things. RNG decides this. Again nothing you can plan for.
     Warforging is a straight iLevel increase, which means your Primary and Secondary Stats, Stamina and Armor Valau all increase. Straight forward effect and good in general. And like Warforged now, I am ok with it being hard to get.
     Gem Slots will be color based but have no slot bonus. There will only be one slot per peice of gear. Gems will only have secondary stats. And will be the only way to get extra Armor Value or Spirit onto Armor Peices. This will suck for Healers and Tanks as thier Armor Peices will never be strictly for thier use. All plate wearers will be competing for the same gear. Same goes for Mail, Leather and Cloth. This also means that every Healer and Tank will compete for any gear with a Gem Slot. Especially Plate wearing Tanks and Healers as well as Leather wearing Tank and Healer's. Cloth Healers will have less competition because their are no Cloth Tanks that I know of. And the same goes for Mail Healers. RNG contoller how good a tank or healer you can be again is taking control of the character from the player. Another bad move in my book.
     Tertiary Abilities will be things like Movement Speed, Sturdiness, Life Steal, Avoidance, and Cleave. These abilities will stack. These are nice things to have, but if you are not a person who does multi-target attacks will not want Cleave. So these tertiary abilities may be useless or make you feel like you have to play a certain way because you want to maximize your capabilities you are given by RNG. These tertiary abilities will be randomized as to what you get so planing again is tossed out the window.
     An additional Note about Set Bonus' on tier gear. It will change to fit your Spec. So you will not have to get a tanking set and then a dps set, for example. One set works for both specs. This si a good change as, like Primary Stats, always keeps your gear relavent, if not optimal.
    Non-Armor Peices are Weapons, Rings, Cloaks, Necklaces and Trinkets. These thngs will get all of the same things as the above gear with some notable differences.
    Primary Stats will not change with Spec. Primary Stats will NOT be Strength, Stamina and Intellect. Instead it will be either Attack Power or Spell Power. Most will have Stamina too. Weapons are the exception here in that they will have Primary Stats like Armor Peices. Whether they will change primary stats with Spec has not been said one way or the other. While the Attack/Spell Power will make these peices more 'universal', I don't think that it will make people feel happier about getting the gear. The customization of peices will not be present so the lack of ways to differentiate your character will be reduced. And with RNG still in control, you will never now if you will get anything of value.
   Secondary Stats will get to include Spirit and Armor Value to the above list as to what you will get. Spirit will get your healers fighting over peices, and Armor will get all the tanks fighting over the gear. And since this will be a rare stat to appear it's going to hurt progression raiding to a great deal.
   Additional Properties will be limited to only one of them. So Gem Slots will be highly fought over because it gives the best route for customizations, no matter your role. The least sought out will be the tertiary stats. But again, with RNG deciding if your even going to get this property and which one, you will never be able to plan out your progression gearing with any feeling of accomplishment.
    What all of this boils down to me is that with RNG having an increased say in what loot, and quality of loot, you will never be able to say that skill will be what limits you from being good in PVE. Gearing, controled by RNG, means that only the lucky will get the best gear at a reasonable rate and become top of the charts for progression raiding and gearing. For casual players, it means that you will only get into raiding because you know someone. Since all Hardcore, and Serious raiders look at your gear for determining your worthyness to join the raid, you will be looked down upon because RNG says your bad, regardless of how good you truley are. If they stick with this model of loot creation, I am going to start sucking in Raids, and I only do LFR, because I can't make my character the best that I can be. I can only be the best that RNG wants me to be. And that is not fun.
     So I think that is enough for now. If you have any comments for me on this, or other, subjects then please leave them. I want to hear them. Until next time, Enjoy!    

Weekly Character Update

     First off I would like to apologize for this long delay on a blog. I have been under the weather lately so was not up to par on my writing skills. Not wanting to put out something bad, I just did nothing and recovered. So now on to my characters.

Airholen the Explorer     I have strictly just ran Scenarios and Dungeons to build up Valor to upgrade my gear. I have one more upgrade to do then I will return to the Timeless Isle to search for the signet to get my last ring. Of course I have to get a Burden before I make the ring. Once I have this upgraded all the way, the next plan will be to finish off the extra quests in my quest log and then maybe go pet collecting with him. Will have to see.

Brewmaster Asmodea     Been running Scenarios, Dungeons and Throne of Thunder Raids to get Valor and gear so that I can get into SoO Raids. Once I max out her gear it will be on to maxing Living Steel so that the Jewelcrafting Mounts can be made. I did finally max out her Herbalism skill. So I will be working on her farm to get it maxed out to get all the Golden Lotus's that I need to get all of the jobs done.

Strayleaf of the Nightfall     She has been dusted off now and working on getting through the Horde story line. She is still in Jade Forest but has reached Level 86 now. Will continue to work on her level and Herbalism skill. Her Inscription skill needs work too but will probably not worked on much initially. Not sure yet. Strayleaf, just for those who don't know, is a Tauren Paladin Protection and Holy spec'ed. Primarily run Protection so working on my tanking skills a lot.

Vice Admiral Zombee     Been working on rep grinds. Got Dyson Sphere up to Tier 2 already. Working towards 3. Romulan is almost at Tier 4. Nukara and Omega are closing the gap on Tier 4. The new Rep system is so much better. I will have to go over it more in Science News and Views.

Blue Adept, The Ghost Whisperer     Just so that you know, Blue Adept is a magic wielder superheros from the Champions Online MMO. Blue Adept is Level 20 out of a Max of 60. I have been trying to get him further along so that I can go back and Solo some of the older content more readily. But leveling has been difficult. My style of mage is not very defensive, but does some massive damage through casting times and some healing capabilities. There have been so many changes in the game since I last played him that I had to spend a lot of time just figuring out what those changes meant to me and my play style. It's these changes that has made things a little more difficult for me right now. But he is getting somewhere. I have cleared out a lot of content. Just reaching points where I need another player or few more levels to compete the goal. Champions Online is a modern era game so I will probably start doing a Modern News and Views soon.

     That was all of the Characters I played this past week. Looks busier than it actually was. Airholen and Asmodea only take maybe 1 hour between them and Strayleaf gets the most play there. Blue Adept I played one evening and Zombee got played most nights for about 30 minutes or so. Though not at all over the weekend.

Tune in next time for Fantasy News and Views. Until then, Enjoy!

Science News and Views 5

Star Trek Online     Besides some gamestore deals going on right now, there is nothing new to report. No changes have been announced and the Lobi Event is still ongoing. They have not announced anything new for the game at this time either.

     I wish I was playing more than one SciFi based game at this time but I am not. And so this weeks SciFi news is very light. Hopefully next week there will be more to report. Thank you for your time and Enjoy!

Fantasy News and Views 5

World of Warcraft
      So Warlords of Draenor news keep rolling out. I am going to touch on a couple bits of news that I saw being discussed on the forums and on twitter.
      Flying has taken quite a bit of space on the forums. The big issue is that there will be no flying till Patch 6.1 comes. Everytime that a new reagions have been opened up, we have always had to wait till we reach max level to get flying. This change forces people to stay on the ground far longer. I think this is a bad idea. Once reaching max level, I want to be able to fly so that I can do end content that I want. I want that freedom. Forcing me to have to ground pound everywhere is just poor designing on thier part. If they want to force people to come at things on the ground there are better design options for it. Amongst those options are putting the encounter under a roof, forceing demounting when you go under that roof, place trash mobs closer to the quest point so that you get mauled by sheer numbers, add cover so that you can't see the target till you get low where the mobs can hit you off the mount. These are just a few ideas, more are possible I am sure.
      Another thing I see being discussed alot is the Trials of the Gladiator. A new PVP ladder that is not replacing the old ladder. But you can only climb up in it at certain times of the day. You also will be getting your gear for practicaly nothing. This is an effort to make the Gladiators to be all about skill and not gear. The time is meant to concetrate players to create quicker queues. All this really means is that pro-type players, or kids not in school, will get to play this consistantly. The rest will be hit or miss at best. And the only reason to do this is to gain titles and mounts. In the end, it's really geared for elitist types more so than the casual player. Not saying that it's a bad thing. Just saying that it won't be as highly used as Arenas are. But I do see the potential to harm Arenas queues during the Gladiator uptimes as more of the hard core PVPers have a go at the gladiator titles. It could hurt PVP a little in this regard but I don't think that it will kill PVP Arenas.

    That's what I have time for right now. Tune in next time for more news and Enjoy!

Weekly Character Update

Airholen the Explorer     Continued to gather Valor points and upgrade the gear. Still haven't picked up that last signet. I did get the Chelon kill leaving four Rares left to go for the achievement.

Brewmaster Asmodea     Still looking to get more stuff, but did start collecting valor points to upgrade current gear. Also got a purple ax from the first raid in Throne of Thunder. Also looking to get friendly with the Shadow Pan Assault so that I can pick up my BiS trinket. I have discovered that killing things on the Timeless Isle was hard. Haven't tried with new weapon.

Vice Admiral Zombee     Working on reps. Got to Level 1 in the Dyson Sphere rep. Still level 3 in the other three reps. Doing mostly space battles because I like them better than the ground battles.

That's what these guys have been upto this past week. Hopefully I will have more to report next week. Until then, Enjoy!

Literary Challange 4

   So LC3 was supposed to be about taking command. I did three stories so lets go over them.

      So the first story was Laughter Matters. This is a Red Laughter story about her in charge of  a LexCorp Security Team sent in to recover stolen goods from a local gang. More of her nature is present and some of her fighting style is presented. I don't really have a good feel for her command style yet and so I took a minimalist approach.

      Second story was Danic Takes Command. This covers Vice Admiral Danic (Then Lieutenant Commander) taking command of the second ship he was in command. It also covers a little more about how he deals with adversity, but also what the people he had under his command were like. And how he relied on their skills to get things done for him. He has some stereo-typical Vulcan attitudes but you can see that he also doesn't completely conform to your average Vulcan attitudes towards non-Vulcans. I found it very easy to write this one because Danic is a character that I relate to very well.

      The third story was Guild Leadership. It was meant to be a view into how Airholen became the new Guild Leader. What it really became was a window look into the chaotic time that ended up throwing my character into that role. It's more on an imagine process that a real event, just so that I can give a frame of reference for the character.

      So in the end the three stories covered leadership, but not in the same way. Danic's was about how to deal with conflict with in a new command, Airholen's covered having it thrust upon you, and Red Laughter's was more about how to avoid being in charge while being in charge.

      Next weeks Literary Challenge will be about a challenge they had to over come while they were learning their chosen profession. Be it skills at shooting bows, passing a test or just trying to get along with others. Not sure where to go with Red Laughter, Danic will be some personal interaction dealing with emotions in Starfleet Academy, and Airholen will probably do something with learning to tame animals or such. What will you write about? Join in. And I will see you next time, Enjoy!

LC3 Guild Leadership

                Flynders stomped about his home in Ironforge. His stumpy dwarven legs made the room reverberate with the strength in them. He is one of the most impatient warriors in The DarkSiders guild. And as guildmaster, it was not a good trait. He was stomping about so much that he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings, a mistake that promptly puts him on his arse as he walked right into a big blue hunter, Airholen.

                “Och! Yer here. And you scaley friend too”, Flynders says as he eyes Gozera, a raptor. “Ya ready for this?”

                “No.” Airholen looks about at the rest of the guild.

                “Too bad, this is yours now.” Flynders turns to the others in the room, “Blah de blah de blah. Long and short, He’s in charge. I am not. So bother him now and leave me alone. Here’s the keys, and enjoy. Bye.” And with that the red headed dwarf practically runs out of the place and onto the main thoroughfare in Ironforge.

                Airholen looks down at the keys to the guild bank vault. He then looked back at the various faces in crowd. All of the races of the Alliance were represented.  And every eye was looking at him. Gozera swishes her tail, sensing the uneasiness in Airholen.

                “So, I don’t know if you know me. But you can approach me at any time for anything you need. I will take some time to figure out what I am going to do with the guild. I am open to suggestions. I don’t have anything else, so thank you.” Airholen looked about the crowd hoping to break room from the apparent frost nova affecting the group.

                After just a few moments, the ice breaks and everyone rushes him to shake his hand, introduce themselves and make their suggestions.

After many hours the last of the people left and Airholen was alone.  He was overwhelmed by the acceptance that he had received and the suggestion that was given. He walked to the gryphon master to catch a ride to Stormwind. He had tailors to meet with because he hated the guild Tabard and wanted to change it.

LC3 Danic Takes Command

                Stardate 89070.02 USS Researcher

                Lieutenant Commander Danic walked into the conference room was the Senior Staff was waiting for him. This was the first time he has taken command off a ship he had never served on before. The Quaser Class Science Vessel was a far cry from the Centaur Class Light Cruiser he just transferred from.  He was able to keep Lieutenant R’shee has his first officer, Lieutenant Nire as his Chief Science Officer and Lieutenant Thon D’vov has his Chief Engineer from the USS Discovery. He didn’t know what other officers would be left from the previous command, if any. It made logical sense that the previous captain would take every officer that he could with him to the next posting, just like he did.

                The four officers stood as he walked into the small side room. So only one remained, he thought to himself.  As he made his way to the head of the table, he took the opportunity to look over the new officer. He seemed to be human. Or one of the few races that have no external differences from humans. His uniform was the standard black and blue of the sciences division. He also had Lieutenant’s pips at his collar.

                “Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Have a seat and let’s get started.” Danic takes his seat.  “First order of business, I need to assign out the positions. R’shee, your my only tactical officer. As such, You will have to head up the Security and Tactical Departments as well as be my First Officer. Thon, as the only engineering officer, you will take command of engineering and operations. As for the science departments, I defer to you two, Nire and, uh, your name please?”

                “Lieutenant Sug Shaaliz, sir!” came his eager response.

                “You two tell me who is suited best for what. I know your credentials, Nire. What about you Lt. Shaaliz.”

                A frown crossed Lt. Shaaliz face. “I have been in command since Captain White’s departure two weeks ago. I was brought up from the medical staff as the highest ranking officer at the time.” He let the air gain some poignancy before continuing. “I had expected to either be confirmed at my post or be made First. “ He swallowed and said no more.

                Ah, emotions again. Danic feigned a sigh, to help relieve the man’s tension.  It didn't work. “Captain, I mean no disrespect. But the crew knows me. And they don’t know you.”

                “That’s enough, Lieutenant. It’s Tradition that the new ship’s Captain bring officers from his previous command to make up his new senior staff.  As Captain White took what officers with him that Starfleet allowed, so too did I. “

                “Now, Lieutenant R’shee has been by my side since I took over at my last command. I have come to value her insight into the crew and tactical situations. Lieutenant Nire and Lieutenant Thon D’vov both have been assigned to me as time went by. They came recommended by their previous Captains as deserving of the chance they received under my command. I had requested officers to fill gaps in my staff. You, according to Captain White, need that chance too. But you’re not quite ready for the rigors of his new command. I agreed to take you on as a member of my staff.  To give that chance to prove yourself and to get the experience you need. Do well, and you may captain a ship one day.”

                “So Lieutenant, you have to make a choice. Put aside your pride and learn from us. Or, you can hold onto your opinions and I will find another. Decide now, because I need officers to run this ship efficiently.” Danic steepled his fingers as he leaned back in his seat. He watches the emotions fleet across the betazoids face go from shock to realization, then to comprehension and then finally a decision.

                “As a, uh, Doctor…I think it best that I take charge of the medical department., if Lieutenant Nire doesn’t mind helping me. Assuming you will still have me, Captain. “ Lieutenant Shaaliz looked hopefully at Danic. Obviously worried his earlier transgression killed his chances at command.

                Danic looked at his quiet officers. R’shee smiled in her relaxed position watching it all play out. She had looked over the staff records before we took command. She had ‘advised’ him of this reaction. R’shee just lowered her Andorian antennae in acceptance of Sug.

                Danic looks to Nire. “I have no issue with this. The choice is yours.”  Danic has learned that this bookish Trill always picked her words with care to convey meaning but was said, what was not.  Nire neither said yes or no. She could not find justification to support either answer and therefore took no position at all.

                Danic looked at Thon. As calm as R’shee was, Thon was aggressive. But he did not have the skill to fit as well as her. And it took every bit of the Andorian male’s willpower to keep from interfering in this display of ambition. Thon was great with machines, but terrible with people. Makes him a great engineer but will hold him back from being captain. Thon’s distaste for Sug was clear in his scowl and bearing.

                “Very well, your provisional appointment as Chief Medical Officer will begin as of now. If you don’t work out, I will promote another more suitable candidate. Now, on to further business, Thon, I need you to access the ship and its stores. I want that report in 6 hours. Nire show Shaaliz what I expect for a report on the medical departments. And R’shee, draw up some schedules to test the battle readiness of the crew and this ship. We will reconvene in 6 hours here, any questions?”

                “No? Then you all know what to do, dismissed.”

He watched the relieved Sug head out the door followed closely by Nire. Thon stomped after them. R’shee lingered till the door closed and then turned to Danic.

                “I think he will toe the line.  Did you know that he is a Betazoid?”

                “No.”

                “Then you must bury your emotions real deep. I watched him and he had no hint of how you felt about him. Either that, or he is very unskilled.”

                “R’shee, I am a Vulcan. Of course my emotions are buried deep under logic.It is the Vulcan way, as you put it.”

                R’shee laughed and left.

                

LC3 Laughter Matters

                Red laughter focused her eyes on the warehouse. Her mechanical eyes auto-adjusted the lighting and zoomed to make seeing the details easier.  The team of LexCorp Security waited behind her as she assessed the situation.  Lex has forced her to take the normal with her. She wasn’t a team player, really. She liked doing things alone.

                “Alright, there are a couple of thugs out front. Surround the place and wait for my signal.”

                “What’s the signal?” asked the team lead.

                Red smiled and softly giggled. “I think you will know.” Red then suddenly grabs hold of the building they were hiding behind and climbed the wall without effort. The Security spread out in a military efficiency. She took a running leap at the edge, spread her arms and extended her gliding wings. She glides over top of the thugs and then folded her arms in. She dropped like a rock. She landed in a three point stance on a thug. The purple clad criminal was never going to get back up. Meanwhile the other thug was busy picking himself up from the shockwave.  Red laughed once again and swung her arms around to the guy, two beams of energy later and thug two was down.

                She stands up and saunters over to the door and knocks. And someone tried to stick their head out, but she pulled them the rest of the way out and down on the ground. A security guy stuck a gun to his head and he quit struggling. Smiling, Red walked into the warehouse looks around. The open area was filled with stolen LexCorp goods. The reason they had come was laid out before them.

                Red Laughter motioned for the team to split and encircle the inside space. Meanwhile she walked out into the middle of the space hoping to call out the rest of the gang. It seems that the three were the only ones here as no other opposition appeared.

                “I think we’re good. Call in the trucks.” Red leaps into the air, activates her gliding wings and her rocket booster and flies up to the rafters to watch the rest of the operations. The Teal Lead called in the trucks and the security loaded the stuff. A few looked at her in disgust. She just smiled back as she watches. Once loaded, they left. She climbs to the roof and leaps once more using her rockets and glider mode and flew back to LexCorp to give Lex the good news.

Science News and Views 4

Star Trek Online
     Season 8: The Sphere as arrived. And Man is it different from the usual fare. Lots of changes and a whole new way to play at max level. So lets go over the points one by one.
     Adventure Zone:  There is a space zones that you roam around and try to fight off Voth forces to control key strategic points. Gettting these points means fighting Voth forces, exploring the map and unlocking missions to complete to earn rewards. DO well enough and you unlock an Event that will give greater rewards if you complete it. There is no quest givers, you just go about and do what you want. No queueing up for anything. No grouping up for anything either. It's all about doing what you want and helping the other players that are there too. I have to say that this style of play is very fun, rewarding and probably will be my primary focus after Rep grinding is done.
    Rep System changes: Rep system has a new feature in that you can buy a token to double your alts rep gain. Also the new rep just takes EC. No more buying of X units Y item. Just Marks, Expertise and EC. This so streamlines the process that it's actually worth the effort to keep playing after you set up the rep mission because it completes in an hour so that you can just do it again. SO if you can be on for more than hour you can make great strides i your rep. These changes are good and I hope they get filtered to the existing reps.
     Battlegrounds: The ground version of the Adventure zone. You and two of your BOff's go roaming accross the maps trying to take control and win awards. Once you have taken enough of the maps an event triggers and you have a limited amount of time to complete it to earn the final reward and reset the map. Again it's just cool to roam around and do things your way at your pace with others present. I see a bright future for this style of content for STO in the future.
     New Queued evets: They are still making new PVE STF's missions to run. Again you and 5 others try to complete some mission objectives. You are rewarded on how well you did. Also very run so for.
     Spire Outpost Fleet Holding: Another thing for the Fleets to grind up and make pretty. Again new ships, gear and duty officers. I haven't checked my fleets out yet but the one they show online looks cool.
      Federation Tutorial Revamp: The revamp has you starting out in the acadamy with a 'best friend", much like the Romulan Tovan Khev BOFF. But supposedly this character can be dismissed unlike Tovan Khev.
      All this and new Ships, lock boxes and duty officers. Even some new Duty Officer Missions. All good things and building towards a very good game, I think.

      That's all I have for this segment. Enjoy and Have Fun!
    

Fantasy News and Views 4

Blizzcon is over and lots of news came out with it. SO I am going to try to cover everything that I can. On to the blog....

World of Warcraft
     New expansion has been announced. Warlords of Draenor. And if you will recall, I said this was the expansion name last week. I also said that Garrosh was going to escape and bring back Fel Orcs to take down the Horde. Man, was I ever close. Garrosh escapes, goes back intime to keep the orcs from being corrupted and becoming Fel Orcs, and then organizing them to take out the Horde. Garrosh's calls his Horde the Iron Horde. So it's Iron Horde versus Horde. This story is still very Horde-centric and disappoints me. But the possibility of Draenai lore is a plus.
      I also have stated that they would heal Outlands and remake Draenor. Well, instead, they are doing the alternate timeline thing and taking use back to a Draenor that will never get destroyed. This avoids the redoing of the Outlands for leveling and gives us a way to expand regions in the future. All in all, I think this was a slick move.
     Once the expansion hits, you will get to make one character per account an instant Level 90. This is to get new players and returning players to catch up to the current expansion and reach towards the new max level. I like this in theory, but will see how it does in practice.
    Max level will be Level 100. I figured that was going to happen. But there will be no new powers as you level and a new talent at level 100. As you level you will get buffs to your abilities though. I think this is a good plan just to combat button bloat.
     All of the old races are getting updated Character Models. This has been sorely need for some time now. Though I don't like the idea that they are going to change all of the game sounds. There have been people that say the gunne sounds are bad. I like them. I transmog my weapon on Airholen to gunnes because I like the sounds and the animations that go with it. But this will be a positive change more than negative.
     No new races and classes. Fine with me. They need to make what they have now balanced well before they add to the mix. And I would rather they make all the classes a hybrid class than just some of them being just Pure DPS.
     Numbers Squish is happening. All Items are getting thier numbers massively reduced. Not only that, but Hit, Expertise, Dodge and Parry are being removed from Stats. And your Armour will automatically switch it's stats to meet your spec needs. I am worried that this maybe oversimpliflying things, but lets wait and see.
      Reforging is gone. Enchanments won't be applicable to all gear. Gems are getting limited to a max of one. Gems are getting buffed, but meta gems are getting removed. And no socket bonus'. This is in reaction to the Numbers Squish, but gold investment to level everything will get reduced severely. And I think that Jewelcrafters and Enchanters are going to get short changed on the money making end of this. I am leery of this change in general, though I don't mind the reforging going away.
      Garrisons, supposedly WOW's answer to player housing. It seems to me to be inline with how Star Trek Online does Duty Officers and Ships. Garrisons will have buildings that you will build and level up and that give you things. You also will get henchment that you can send of to compltete quest, carry out mission or do work in the garrison. Basically, you will be in charge of a fortress and the command the personel with in it. Which also means you have to do things to recruit them as well as occasionally have to go out and rescue them too. I think that this has the potential of being the coolest thing ever.
     Raiding gets a revamp. There will be LFR with Flex mechanics, Normal with Flex mechanics, Heroic with Flex Mechanics and Mythic (20 man only). They are renameing things. SO basically we get LFR, Normal (Old FLex), Heroic (Old Normal) and Mythic (Old Heroic). I think the changes are good and in the long run will make design the Raids easier. And allows Guilds of any size to build raid teams and not leave people behind. Mythic will be the only level that will have some people grumbling because all those 25 man teams will have to reduce to 20 man. This going to cause some Hard Core teams split or develope bad blood amongst it teams members as they get left out. It will be interesting to see how the Hard Core teams deal with this.

     Well, this blog is very long. But a lot of things happened at Blizzcon. And I didn't cover it all. I will save the rest for futrther posts because I want to learn more before I really comment on it. Enjoy and Have Fun!
      

Weekly Charater Update

Airholen the Explorer
     Got one of my signets so far and picked up one more Rare kill. Four more to go. Airholen has picked up more gear that he shuffled off to various people. Otherwise, continuing to get timeless coins and Emporer Rep to get the mount. Not much else.

Asmodea
     Running around the Timeless Isle trying to deck the character completely in Timeless gear. Not doing anything else right now.

VAdm Zombee
     Still working on all the reps with him only. Have completed getting the gear from the special mission and now picking up the gear set for Jem'Hadar and Breen BOF's.

Grell, Danic and Sisteric
     All of these characters have completed all of the missions to get the Obelisk Carrier and the Special Weapon. Otherwise they are funneling everything into Zombee in preperation of the Rep changes in Season 8.

     This is all I did this week. Tune in tomorrow to hear my reaction to everything that went on at Blizzcon as related to WOW and Heartstone. Until then, Have Fun!

Literary Challange 3

  Hi all, I hope that Blizzcon was fun for you who went. From what I saw online it looked like fun. So on to the post.

     LC 2 was about the characters favorite place to get away from it all.  I will be going over the three submitted stories. The first one was submitted two weeks ago so you will need to backtrack to it if you haven't read it or don't remember it.

    First up is Danic's Haven. VAdm Danic gets found by his first officer in his preferred meditation spot. Vulcan's have to meditate every so often to maintain their composure. And Danic finds a place and does what he can to keep it a secret. But Duty Calls and his First Officer has to get him. This story allowed me to introduce Derip, the first Officer, and the kind of personality he has. So even though the story is about Danic's hiding spot, it's really about Derip as a person. Hopefully the read is good and Derip is liked for who he is.

     Next was Hall of Laughter. This covers Red Laughter's hideout. But it goes more into what motivates her and why this place is such a retreat for her. Nothing new to note except maybe a few tidbits on her life before the "change". It was easier for me to write this story than the last one for her was.

     And last but not least is Quiet Time. Airholen is still on the farm relaxing. This is very short because I had covered this mostly in the first story. Nothing really new to add.

   So I hope you guys enjoyed those stories. Next Week's challenge is about Leadership. This will be to right about the character in a leadership role. For STO it should be about when they took command of a ship. Airholen will get a Guild Leader story, since he is a guild leader. And Red Laughter will probably get something to do with leading some of Lex's Minions on a mission. Not quite sure yet for her. But Leadership will show alot about a person character and personality. And how well they deal with stress. Hopefully this will show more insight into each of the characters personality and thought processes. And I hope you all will enjoy them.

   Until Tuesday, have fun!

LC 2 Quiet Time

                Airholen walked out onto the porch of Sunsong Ranch. Breathing in the country air and stretching. This was the place for him to relax. Sitting down on the bottom step, he watched the animals go about their business. The chickens darted about, scratching at the dirt. The pigs wallow in the pond. The cat is stalking the chickens. The dog is barking at the yak that’s calmly chewing its cud.

                Pantera quietly strolled over to Airholen and lay down. Airholen absently strokes his soft fur as he takes in the scenery. Farmer Yoon had gifted this farm to him in repayment for the help to get him on the Tiller Council in Halfhill. Farmer Yoon also helped him with getting the farm up and growing vegetables. Airholen then uses those veggies to make various soups and dishes that he has learned from the Ironpaw family.

                “This is the life, Pantera. Enjoy, for we go to take on Garrosh soon. And there will not be time to rest during that campaign.” Airholen scratches his head one more time and leans back and looks up at the sky.

LC 2 Hall of Laughter

                Red Laughter danced along the dark corridor towards her secret retreat. The sound was hollow and metallic. She laughed at the sound. It reminded her of the day she woke up on the alien ship. The day that those little mechanical bugs remade her body into the cybernetic being she now is. The day she was reborn as Red Laughter. She laughed that day because crying seemed so pointless then. And now she can’t cry at all.

                At the end of the corridor is an unassuming door. The grey steel door opens into a large chamber. As she enters the chamber, lights start to glow at various intervals around the room. They light up an oval room that contains a bed, a refrigerator, and a lot of monitors hooked to several news feeds and internet websites. With a flick of her fingers the channels change and websites flicker.  There was one area in the room, an area of many tables, bookcases and displays. All of them containing some sort of mementos of past capers and operations.

                Red laughter skipped about her room. She loved being here in the low light. Since her transformation, she has not felt comfortable in the bright light of the sun where everyone can see her. See what she has become. She would rather stay to the shadows, in place out of people sight. Here in the dark she doesn’t have to face the fear and disgust that showed in faces of the normal that saw her.  She can be comfortable in her own skin. Or at least what was left of it. She can relax and be herself. She didn’t have to hold back and hide her new self. She was free here in the dark. Free to be herself.

                Those damned aliens took so much from her that she couldn’t be who she once was. She had to be someone new. She even had to change her name because it didn’t fit her anymore. She took the name Red Laughter because Lex kept telling her to stop laughing. It annoyed him. But he wanted aliens, all aliens, gone. Aliens did this to her, so she was inclined to agree with him. But the aliens leaving will not change who she has become, who she is now, and who she will have to be for the rest of her life. And here in the dark she can be herself with fear and loathing. She can laugh and relax without recrimination.

                Red Laughter calls her new home The Hall of Laughter. But she is the only one laughing in it. Alone. 

Science News and Views 3

Star Trek Online:              So Season 8: The Sphere is being released on November 12^th. The changes that will be present are good changes I think. There will be new Space and Ground adventure areas, New Rep, New changes to rep and a new fleet building. All of these things are cool. But the most important thing to me is the Rep changes.

                Rep will get a coin that you can buy at max tier in the rep. Then you give this coin to your Alts and it permanently doubles all rep grains for that alt. Also the new Rep doesn’t require you to purchase all these various pieces to add to the mission to gain the Rep points. In fact, the new rep only requires marks and EC to get it. And certain missions will get a certain token to do the high end mission. This is a great idea and hopefully they will apply it to all of the reps.

                Again, STO is the only Science Fiction game I played, so nothing else to add. Have fun and catch you later.

Fantasy News and Views 3

Warcraft:             Blizzcon is this weekend. Announcement is expected on what the next the next expansion will. Speculations are running amok as earlier this week is was discovered that “The Warlords of Draenor” was trademarked in US, UK, New Zealand and the EU. Draenor is the homeworld of the Orcs and the first world the Draenai settled after they ran from The Burning Legion, according to lore.  When the Legion caught up with them, the orcs were bent to the legions will and the Draenai finally tried to leave. The Blood Elves sabotaged their ship and the Draenai crashed on Azeroth. The Blood Legion also caused the planet Draenor to break up and become what we know as the Outlands. Basically, The Outlands is what‘s left of Draenor, the Orc homeworld.

                From this knowledge, and the fact that the Horde is run by Warlords and Warchiefs, the new trademark seems to imply that the next expansion will be about the Outlands and the Orcs. Possibly even Garrosh Hellscream escaping from his Pandaren punishment and finds and organizes the last of the Fel Orc tribes to retake the Horde.  Speculation aside, it is clear that this next expansion will be Horde-centric story line again based on the title alone, at least to me at this time.

                To this I feel sadden. The Horde receives so much attention from the expansions that I feel that Blizzard only has the Alliance in it so that the Horde has a reason to unify.  The Alliance keeps loosing battles and land to the Horde and even when they have a chance to regain that stolen property, the leadership chooses not to. In fact, more Alliance locations have suffered devastation by the Horde than the reverse.  If this is supposed to be two groups that can’t wipe the other out, then the Alliance needs to start taking back lost territory and win a few battles. They also need to have their story take the forefront just as often as the Hordes. If they could alternate the expansions between Horde, Alliance and outside threat, I bet that they could get more of a feel of a living world and make more people happy.

Hearthstone:     Blizzard has said that no new invites to Closed Beta will occur till after Blizzcon. Hopefully, the panels at Blizzcon will give us some Idea of a release date for this game. I enjoy it immensely and my two girls like watching me play. I want to set them up with their own account to play the game, but I won’t do that till it’s at least in open Beta.

                That is all of the fantasy based news I have for now. Hopefully this has been informative and helpful in some way. Until tomorrow, have fun!

Weekly Character Update

Airholen The Explorer
      So over the past two weeks he has picked up the last of tier peices that he needs to get the four peice bonus. He has also finally killed the High Preist of Ordos and completed all of the LFR runs for SoO. He also picked up all of the BIS gear from the Raids and combined burdens with timeless tokens on all the other peices except the rings. I need to pick up both rings and two burdens to upgrade them. I now have only 5 more Rares to kill on Timeless Isle to get that acheivement. I also have gotten the Honored level with Shaohao and bought the trinket that teleports you back to the Isle. Airholen will continue to rep grind, try to kill the missing Rares, and collect coins to buy burdens for the day I finally get the signet tokens to get my rings.

VAdm Zombee
     I have completed the featured mission to get the new Obelisk Carrier. Working towards getting all of the Reps to 5 by Nov 12 but I don't think I will get there in time.

VAdm Danic
     They have opened up past featured runs so that you can pick of the special gear from those missions. I have picked up both the Breen and Reman BOFF as well as the Shard and the Ophidian Cane. Zombee got all of these when it was current. But the rest of my guys didn't get that option. Danic has also gotten the Obelisk Carrier. They are also awarding Lobi Crystals for running certain missions. I plan to continue doing this with all characters, but Danic has done the most with this.

VAdm Grell
     Grell has finally picked up the Breen BOFF, already had the Reman officer. He has also picked up the Obelisk Carrier. I will need to go back and rerun the featuered mission to pick up the other peice of unique gear so that they can be fully decked out.

     I haven't done anything else, but Sisteric is due to run the feature to get the Carrier and Asmodea needs to start getting more time since Airholen is nearly finished. Until next time, have fun and enjoy!

A Week of Pain and Fun

     So this past week has been 'Hell on Wheels' for me. I have been so busy that stopping to think was not on the agenda. I plan om catching up this week and proceeding forward from there.
     And it also means that I will have the rest of the stories done and posted this saturday. I don't want to say to much more or my regular posts will have nothing in them. So, for all those people who have patiently been waiting for me to to get back to this. I am back and will start the regular features tomorrow.
   Until then, have fun!

Literary Challange 3

     I am running a bit behind this week. Lots of Family events going on this last week and more still to come this week. But on with the show.

     So last weeks challange was to write about the characters safe place, their Haven. As it was, I only had time to write one person's story, VAdm Danic's. The shows a bit of the interaction between him and Derip, his First Officer. The difference of their personality is what I was trying to play on alittle bit as I also set the stage as to why VAdm Danic sought out such solitude. Hopefull it was good enough for people to enjoy.

    I have given this some thought, and I have decided I would rather extend LC2 another week to give me a chance to finish the other two stories before going on now.

    I will send another blog out today about my characters. Until then, enjoy and have fun.

LC2: Danic's Haven

Stardate 91371.91            USS Explorer

                Commander Derip B’zoph stalked the halls of the Explorer looking for the Captain.  His Andorian antennae twitched in frustration from his lack of locating the Vulcan Vice Admiral. Derip knew that the captain needs to perform some of his rituals in isolation. But where on this ship would he find that solitude?  The fact that he had asked the computer to locate the captain was met with some message about it not necessary for him to know infuriated him to no end. In fact, he believed that the captain took some perverse Vulcan pleasure from angering him.

                Stomping past the botanical labs he picked up an odd sent. Like some incense was burning in one of the labs. He recalled that Vulcan’s liked to burn these smelly candles in their rituals. He twisted his head and followed the scent in the air.  The spicy aroma lead him through a couple labs and finally into a lab with lush jungle vegetation. The heat was unbearable but he pushed on.  As he approached the end of a table filled with leafy green bushes, Vice Admiral Danic stepped out from behind it, with a lumpy bag in hand.

                “There you are Captain. Starfleet has sent a communicade for your eyes only. You are needed on the bridge.”

                “Wait a moment, Derip. I need for you to keep my presence here a secret.”

                Derip furrowed his brow. “Why would that be, Captain?”

                “It has been the once place I have found on this ship that I can be alone and not disturbed for a few hours each day. Do you not have the desire to get away from others, the demands of command, and from the rigors of duty for a few moments? To escape the public’s eye?”

                Derip paused, it was uncharacteristic of Danic to ask such personal questions. “Well, yes. But I use the holosuite to bring up my home on Andoria. The ice fields really give you a sense of being alone. And the temp is so refreshing to be in.”

                “I see. Well, this is my holosuite, my place to contemplate my day and relieve the stress of command, and a place that I will most likely not be found by the crew or the senior staff. The temp is not unlike that of Vulcan, but with more humidity. I also take advantage of the strong smells that the vegetation create to hide the smell of my meditation candles. I have told the computer that I am not to be disturbed where here except in dire emergencies. “

                “Humph…I see.  I will keep this a secret. But can you let the computer know to tell me you are meditating when I need to reach you? I don’t think the crew liked seeing me stomping through their areas looking for you.”

                “Oversight noted and I will take measure to adjust it. Now, shall we go see what Starfleet Command wants?”

                “Yes, after you?”

                The Captain and his First walked calmly to the turbo lift, and their new orders.

Modern News and Views 2

  And again I got nothing for this feature. I am going to suspend this feature till I start actually doing something with it. Sorry folks.

Science News and Views 2

Star Trek Online
     There is a new event going on. Kid Q is hanging out at the faction capitols handing out XP boosts. It lasts for 4 hours.
     They also have been releasing Dev Blogs about what is coming in Season 8. Mostly covering the Voth and their designs. But the few things I have gleaned are that a new battle zone will be put in place that will be a battlefield with several regions. These regions will be battle for between the combined factions forces and the Voth. You get to take 2 bridge officers with you on these ground missions and up to five players. You battle accross the various zones trying to gain control and advance the front. Of course the Voth fight back. you get rewards based on how many fo these zones you hold on weekly basis.
     They have also announced that they are revamping the Rep system but have not released any details. I hope this revamp removes some off the grindier aspects of the rep system.
      Some of the details of the Voth forces has been released. They are technologically geared towards defensive postures. But the do make use of beast in battle. In fact, the fond terminology has been used to refer to these beast as Dinosaurs. So we are getting Dino's with Lasers on their heads. Hopefully they don't do it as cheesy as it sounds.
      Space battles will be with ships that have some unique defensive technologies built. These technologies are also geared to keep the Voth from taking damage or healing the damage that they have received. It will take people working together to overcome the Voth technological advantage.

Again there is nothing else in the science fiction games that I have reviewed or looked at. So tune in next time for the Mordern News and Views.

Fantasy News and Views 2

World of Warcraft

       LFR Wing 4 has opened up. New realms have been joined together to increase server populations, Garrosh got nerfed in LFR. Warcraft is in it's winding down stage of the patch cycle before Blizzcon's announcement of what the next expansion will be. At least everyone theorizes that the next expansion will be announced then. They do have a panel dedicated to the 'future of wow' so I assume that is when that will be announced what is next in store for us WOW players. Meanwhile I have hit General Forums to see if I can get LFR loot changed to reduce RNG's role in gearing. But so far I have had no blue posts, but a bit of lively discussion about my time spent in WoW. Hopefully I can get more people to discuss the pros and cons of a non-RNG based loot system.

Hearthstone

       More keys for Berta have gone out. Otherwise I have not seen any real news for this game.

     

Weekly Character Update

Airholen the Explorer
     I have now killed every boss but 1 in the first three wings of LFR. I have two peices of Tier 16 gear so far and 3 peices of upgraded Timeless gear and three peices of BIS gear that is not either of the previous mentioned groups. I also have killed a few more Rares that I have not downed before. But I have not completed the noodle cart missions yet.

Vice Admiral Zombee
     I have gotten all three reps upt to level 2. Nukara Rep should be level three tonight. Until I get the reps up I don't plan to do anything else except the new missions when Season 8 comes out.

Vice Admiral Danic
     He has gotten Level 2 with all the reps. It will be a few more days before I get Level 3, most likely with Omega first.

Lieutenant General Sisteric
     This one has also gotten to level 2 with all the reps. Probably will get Level 3 first with Nukar or Omega but not really sure.

    These were all the characters I had time for this week. The STO Characters are all stuck doing the rep grinds so that I can get the better gear for them. But according to some of the Dev Blogs they are going to roll out a new way to do Reps with Season 8. This will be the second time they have done this. Hopefully it won't be as bad as the current grindy system is.

    Tune in tomorrow for the Fantasy New and Views and what I have to say about the the various fantasy games I play or watching.

Literary Challenge 2

     So lets start off by going over the three stories I submitted.
     First up is Core Item Updater. This story revolves around my villain from DC Universe Online. In DCUO you create a character with a certain set of powers, a fighting style and a movement ability. In the case of Red Laughter, she is following Lex Luther, which makes her a meta human. Meta humans derive their powers by the virtue of their DNA. Red's power structure is based on gadgets. So this means she makes high tech stuff to do her things. I took this to mean that she has re-engineered her body with technology. She is a cyborg. Her fighting style relies on blasters. So she has blasters built into her hands. Her travel power is based on acrobatic maneuvers. So she has uploaded programs to get moving and dodging and climbing based on physics. She also has developed some gadgets to attained gliding and also rocket boosted gliding. Have decided that all of the body modification has taken it's toll on her mind. So she is a wee bit psychotic. I tried to present this psychotic portion of this personality with out revealing to much about her powers, to make her seem more monstrous. I hoped that it worked.
      Next is Danic's Prized Possession. This is a story centering around Vice Admiral Danic, a Vulcan Science Officer and Starship Captain. I found writing this story easier because of my familiarity with military life and the the Star Trek media. Vulcan's are not emotionless, but they do try to hide it. And I thought that a major turning point in his career would warrant a memento. Crew members would also rotate on ships, and I saw no reason that it would be any different in the future. And I think the meeting of the captain would be a standard thing to do in the Federation's friendly future methods. I used a Ferengi female as the foil because it allowed for the type of reaction I wanted with no animosity to be perceived. I think this was the better of the three submitted stories for it.
      Finally we have Valued Peace. A story set in Pandaria about my hunter character, It gives an insight into what drives Airholen to wonder so far abroad. And to take animals as friends over other humanoids. He seeks natural peace and a connection to this new world that his people have crashed on. And a farm is going start for this. I hope people liked this story, but it was the hardest one for me to write.
     So what do you guys think of the stories? Let me know.
     So for Literary Challenge 2 the story will be about where these characters feel the most home at. Where do they relax and chill and unwind after a hard day of work. The same three will be up again for their stories. So enjoy and hope to hear from you all.

LC1 Valued Peace: An Airholen the Explorer/WoW Story

                Airholen stretches as he exited the Pandarian farmhouse. The smells of an active farm fills his nostrils. The pigs, chicken and yak meander about eating. The dog sat at the base of the steps watching over them and the cat was sitting on an old stump cleaning himself.  He loved the rustic living that he found out here on the Pandarian continent. And getting away from the crystal powered ark was what drove him out into the world and away from his people.

                Panterra purred at his side. She was his constant companion. Her spotted white fur was soft to the touch as his brushed along his tail. She also seemed to prefer this place over most of the place his people, the Draenei, could be found.  Walking down the stairs, Airholen surveyed the farm and started to walk its perimeter. He didn’t fear that any creatures were damaging his fence line because the farm was on the outskirts of Halfhill. He wondered back around the house.

                The building sits up on stilts. There was a stairs that took it up to the low circular doorway.  The thatched roof was fresh and yellow. The interior was simple one room affair with cooking fire, bed and desk with chair.  It was sufficient for his needs, and didn’t have that hard feel of the stone, metal and crystal of Exodar. The wood grains and vegetable fiber carpets and bedding.

                This home and its isolation it provides from the bustle of world really was what he valued the most.  There was nothing else that compares to this calmness this place provides. He was home, and that was all that mattered. 

LC1 Danic's Prized Possession: A VAdm Danic/STO Story

                Stardate 91355.39  USS Explorer

                Vice Admiral Danic sits in his ready room, eyeing his new crewmembers. Assessing them in every manner his Vulcan senses can allow him. Three of the four crewmen were staring straight ahead, as good fresh cadets normally do. But the fourth one, Ensign Tugnarra, was looking over the shelves that held his souvenirs from previous missions. Tugnarra was curious enough for being a female Ferengi in Starfleet, but her uniform displayed the yellow of engineering too. And the lack of fear was interesting in a Ferengi.

                “Welcome to the Explorer. Remember, we are ship of science, not war. Do not expect to see combat. Do not expect to be safe either. We face the unknown, and that carries its own danger. You know your assignments. You are dismissed. Ensign Tugnarra, remain here. “Danic watched the crewmen leave, eyeing Tugnarra as they passed her.

                Tugnarra remained at attention while her compatriots filed out. But she just couldn’t keep her eye from wondering about the room. When the door swished shut, Danic once again looked at Tugnarra.”Do you know why I had you stay?”

                “No, sir.”

                “I am curious about your actions and attitude in my office. You seemed more interested in my office and lacked any of the fear that most new crewmembers have when meeting me the first time. Why is that?”

                “There is a saying on Ferenginar, ‘You can measure a man’s success by his possesions. But you can measure a man’s character by the possessions he treasures.’ I was just taking in what you show as having value to display. I like what I see, even if I don’t understand it all.”

                Arching his left eye brow quizzically, Danic looked at what was on display. ‘You are a quartermaster, if I remember correctly from your files. So you should recognize all that is on the shelf. So what don’t you understand?”

                Tugnarra hesitated. Then look straight at a lump of charred metal. “That piece of metal over there. It seems to be a burnt piece of hull structure. Unlike the other pieces, it has no obvious artistic value or functionality. It stands out as an oddity amongst all the cleaner aesthetic pieces. It represents something. Something that you are not afraid of talking about, but feel no need to bring up yourself. I would think that it’s connected to your first command, based on your public records started with in disaster. “

                Danic looked at Tugnarra. Ferengi logic was always a curious thing. Profit and acquisitions as the guiding factors for one’s life seemed to be a shallow way to live. How they could find such joy and self-worth in such things was beyond him. “It is from that fatal day. I kept it to remind me of how disaster is not always a bad thing. From that moment, command took notice of my efforts and so gave me the Discovery. There are many examples in history of where failure brought new discovery.  My discovery was that I can command others and make those right choices. And Command learned that they had another starship captain when they needed one.  That piece I picked up from the bridge once I got back to ESD, before I meet with the Admiral.”

                Calmly Danic looks over the Ferengi female. “You have yet to explain your attitude.”

                Tugnarra frowned. “I don’t know what you mean? I am not sure what attitude you mean?”

                Danic stood up and approached the crewmember. “Most new crewmen who come to my office are too afraid to do more than stare straight ahead, too afraid to say anything and all to glad to be dismissed. You on the other hand were so busy looking around that I doubt even your famed Ferengi hearing heard all of what I had to say. What sets you apart from the rest?”

                Tugnarra gave a snaggletooth grin.  “I see. Well…on Fereginar, females are not allowed to do many things. We are largely ignored, which allows me the luxury to always look around without worry. Besides, since it’s illegal for females to leave Fereginar, the threat of a stern warning from a Starfleet Admiral pale in comparison to Liquidators grabbing me and taking me back to Fereginar to face charges for being a female with the lobes for business. No offence.”

                “None taken. Very well. Does my explanation of the hull piece sufficient?”

                “Yes sir.”

                “Then carry on. Report to Commander Kerrick. Dismissed.”

                The young Ensign nodded and turned to leave. As she get to the doors, Danic heard her whisper “He’s nicer than most Vulcan’s. I wonder what it would cost to buy command apprenticeship.” And the doors close.

                That would be a curious thing, a Ferengi Starfleet Captain. Would be most curious.

               

                

LC1 Core Item Updater: A Red Laughter/DCUO Story

                A man sits in the dark. He is very scared for he doesn’t remember how he got here.  He hears a small metallic sound as if metal hit stone. He looks about in the dark and then focuses on the two glowing circles that were floating in the air. “Hello?” he nervously calls out.

                Laughter with a metallic edge floated towards him. “Hello he says. Well hello, John” the female voice tuned the man’s blood cold.

                “Red, is that you? You ok?” John was afraid.

                “Yes, John, I am fine. And I won’t hurt you…..much.”  He hears a stifled laugh. “I want something, John. I want my things back. Please tell me that Robearto is fine. Please tell me you still have him.” He could hear her giggle a bit. “Or I will have to make you pay for him. Where is Robearto?”

                John swallows. Red loved that bear. And he didn’t know what had happened to Red the night those Aliens came and took her and the others. But it’s been hard living since she was gone. The apartment they shared had been hit hard by the invasion.  He had left in a hurry leaving everything behind. He didn’t know what had happened to her or his stuff that he had left behind. His life has been hard ever since. “I don’t have it. During the invasion I left in a hurry leaving everything behind.”

                A light turned on over him. It was harsh compared to the utter darkness he had been in. Then something soft flew out of the darkness beyond the pool light and hit him in the head. He looked at it where it landed. It was Robearto. “Oh, you found it. That’s good.” He held his breathe.

                “Yes. Yes I did. Poor Robearto was all alone. Robearto didn’t like being left alone. He wants you to know that you were a bad man for leaving him.” Her laughter wafted in again.

                “Red is no more, John. Red Laughter is here to right the wrongs done to poor Robearto.” John’s eyes widen as Red Laughter stepped into the light. Her mechanical eyes glowed red. The patchwork of woman and machine smiled as his fear became even more evident. “Yes, John. You left me and Robearto. And Robearto says you need to be punished. “ Red Laughter’s palm starts to glow. “And I am going to punish you….” She laughed with inappropriate joy at the prospect of his pain.

                He screamed for hours, before he died. 

Modern News and Views 1

     So this is supposed to be about Modern games. But I haven't been playing any lately so have not payed them any attention. So I will plan to play DCUO and Champions Online at least once over the next week so that I have something to say here.

Sorry folks.

Science News and Views 1

                So today we have the very first Science News and Views. I will cover Star Trek Online; the only science fictions based game I am currently playing.  At some point, I will return to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, but for now it’s strictly Star Trek Online.

Star Trek Online

                So I figure I should first explain this game a little bit. Star Trek Online (STO) is a free to play MMORPG. You take on the role of a ship’s captain. You will send crewmen off on missions, take bridge crew on ground missions and fly your ship in space battles. As the name implies, it is based in the Star Trek Franchise, but not part of the alternate timeline that JJ Abrams has created.  You can me a member of the Federation, Klingon Empire or Romulan Republic. So that is the basics.

                STO is working on Season 8, seasons being expansion. The new Season is The Sphere and will deal with a Dyson Sphere that is home base of some Voth. The Voth are a dinosaur-like species from the Voyager series. They are more advanced than anything in the Alpha Quadrant. In this expansion, they are aslo coming out with a new federation ship, Avenger Class Battlecruiser. This ship is designed to look like it was built for war but retain the classic look and feel of Federation ships. So far, I think that it looks good.

                The expansion will have space and ground combat. The Voth ground forces include high tech armored Voth soldiers, cyborged dinosaurs with lasers, and armored battle mechs that are mini tanks. These units have interactivity amongst themselves so that they developed tactics that combine the unit powers together for greater effects. This will make it that your ground missions and away teams will have to work together to beat the high tech Voth and what other threats they have yet to release. The Voth are not being presented so much as an enemy of the state but a organization with goals at odds with our government’s goals. No animosity but a desire to control the future of the Dyson Sphere.

                For those who don’t know what a Dyson Sphere is, let me try to explain. Take a sun and build a ball of metal surrounding it. Put the walls of this ball the same distance from the sun as the Earth is and now you have a basic idea. The people would live on the walls of the ball with a sun always shining down on you.  This is the general idea.

                They are still working on this expansion and as they release more info, I will update this blog. Tune in tomorrow for the Modern News and Views.  Have fun everyone!

Fantasy News and Views 1

                This is the first Fantasy News and Views update. We have news on WoW, Neverwinter, Hearthstone and EQ Next. So let’s get started.

World of Warcraft

That when I learned about the random factor on Burdens. You get a random enchantment when you combine it with a Timeless Token.  Now, if you’re a person who likes to plan out their time to get things, because you have limited time, and need to make sure that every choice moves me in the right direction.  Randomness eliminates any sense of personal control or accomplishment of obtaining that goal. While I don’t like randomized rewards for boss kills, I can at least accept it because it’s a reward that I received at the end of one action, a fight. The Burden’s take days, in my case weeks, of effort to get 50K Coins, just to apply it to the token and get some enchantment that might not be what I needed for the optimization of my character to be completed. It sucks because either I languish with the realization that I might never get the character built to be what I want it to be, or don’t plan on ever optimizing my character to be the best that I have the ability to get it too. It sucks, and has ruined my desire to do more on the Timeless Isle.

                Otherwise, we know that Patch 5.4.1 is in the works, hopefully this means that we will find out Garrosh’s final fate in Pandaria. I really don’t have much more on the news as I didn’t have a lot of time reviewing the news for WoW this week.

 

Hearthstone

                More closed Beta keys have been released. More players are being brought in, I think this will help in raising the player base for testing, maybe doing some pre-release stress testing of the services on a lower scale. I have encountered two bugs in the system so far, and have reported it. Not much else to say for it.

 

EQ Next

                Everquest (EQ) Next is the next iteration of the EQ MMO.  They have a Round Table in which they ask fans questions. They take those answers and make choices based on the collected data. The current question is about Lore. They want to know in what way you like to learn about game lore, either by cut scenes, questing notes, external sources or some mixture thereof.  This game appears to be going in a new direction for MMO’s, you get to destroy the world like bridges and trees and such. This means you can find new places by digging. We will keep an eye on this for now.

 

Neverwinter

                This is a D&D based MMO. It is free to play. I have had a lot of fun playing this game but recently haven’t had the time. They are releasing a new lockbox with high end gear in it. I haven’t been on to get any so far.

 

Tune in tomorrow to see what the news in Science News and Views will be be.